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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Media Debate: Facebook & Obesity

Speaker: Second Proposition ConstructiveTo continue and expand on the points Neil made, we
truly believe that Facebook is one of today’s leading causes of obesity.
Firstly, Facebook has proven to be extremely addictive, and the more time our
youth spends on Facebook, the less time they will spend on physical activity.
We cannot blame our teens for this when being addicted to Facebook has the same
mental properties as drug addiction! And with this addiction, just like that of
smoking, the withdrawal symptoms have been found to be extreme. In a study that
tested out teen’s abilities to stay off Facebook, one in five reported feelings of anxiety, panicking, and loneliness. This means Facebook has gone past the point
of being a fun tool that users can choose to spend time on, but rather something that our generation is overdependent on and cannot stop using.
This addiction is directly linked to obesity, as online activities and social
networking are completely sedentary. The more we are magnetically drawn and
dangerously addicted to our computers, the less likely we are to go outside and
participate in athletics.

Another way in which social networking can be
blamed for the obesity epidemic is by its relationship with overeating.
Facebook is such a mindless experience - we have all just sat there, staring at
our computers, scrolling and scrolling for hours, with no real purpose. And
because we are so unfocused during our time online, we are incapable of
realizing how much we are eating, and typically our bodies don’t become full
from this form of snacking because the brain does not realize we’ve eaten
enough. This behaviour has become so common it has been named by researchers as “food
inattentiveness” and is on the rise as we spend more and more time on the
computer. It is so easy to keep reaching your hand back into the bag of chips
as you browse through your friends’ profiles or pictures, and people don’t take
notice of their calorie intake, which can be dangerously high with the unhealthy snack food typically consumed by teenagers. Screen time is a main trigger of compulsive overeating, and with
social networking as the main screen activity for our generation, it is clear
that it has played a part in teen obesity.

Lastly, one other factor we consider to strongly
prove that obesity and Facebook are directly linked is isolation. Today, social
interaction is very different from that of even just 10 or 15 years ago. It is
now possible to maintain a friendship online, and our generation has therefore lost
the capability and respect for face-to-face interaction. In the past, sports have
been a bonding and social activity; it was typical to meet up with friends for
a basketball game, hang out outdoors, or even just walk to school together.
These activities today are completely missing from our lives. We constitute
relationships through other methods like cell phones, emails, and most
importantly social networking. As we become more comfortable behind a screen, by
ourselves, we are seeing a decrease in group activities because they seem
foreign to us. In 1992, 66% of boys aged
6-14 participated in organized sports, in 2005 only 56% did, and for girls 57%
did in 1992, and by 2005 only 51% participated in organized sports. Plus, this
statistic is from 7 years ago, so the rate has probably drastically decreased
in response to how our online time has increased with the 2006 inauguration of Facebook. Without the same types of
friendships or hobbies as before, we don’t have a lifestyle that naturally includes
physical activity, making it necessary to put in our own specific exercise
time. But this isn’t working. Only 7% of 5 to 17-year-olds in Canada get the
proper amount of daily exercise, yet 49% of Canadians under age 13 have
Facebook. Clearly we do not have our priorities straight thanks to Facebook, a
major cause of today’s obesity crisis.Image Sources:http://www.yummly.com/blog/2011/12/5-tips-to-help-you-keep-your-new-years-dieting-resolutions/http://www.information-facts.com/internet/over-350-million-people-suffer-from-facebook-addiction-disorder